Regional Education Committee

What is the Regional Education Committee (R.E.C.)?

The R.E.C. is the Regional Education Committee of St. Patrick’s Regional High School.

The R.E.C. is made up of pastor and parishioner representatives from the 23 parishes in the St. Patrick’s region which extends from Holy Rosary Cathedral in the north to Sacred Heart Parish in Ladner in the south, and from St. Joseph’s Parish Vancouver in the east to St. Mark’s Parish at U.B.C. in the west.

The 23 regional pastors elect 3 pastor representatives to sit on the R.E.C. for a two-year term. Of the 3 pastor representatives, the Archbishop appoints one to be the Archbishop’s Representative to the school for a two-year term. The pastoral elections are held in July of even-numbered years (e.g. 2008, 2010 etc.).

The parishioner representatives on the R.E.C. hold either elected or appointed positions. The elected parishioner reps. are elected for a two-year term by the parishioners of their parish (not by the parents of St. Patrick’s High School). The appointed parishioner reps. are appointed for a two-year term by their pastor. The number of parishioner reps. per parish is based on the number of students from that parish who attend St. Patrick’s Regional (because of the size of our region, in 2004 St. Patrick’s was granted a special formula for parish representation). Those parishes with larger numbers of students in the school have two parishioner reps., while those parishes with smaller numbers of students in the school have one parishioner rep. We have several parishes in our region which have no students in the school, thus they are not required to send a representative to the R.E.C. So, based on the revised formula for St. Patrick’s, there are 25 to 30 parishioner representatives on the R.E.C.

The school principal and a teacher representative are also invited to attend Regional Education Committee meetings. The R.E.C. and the school administration and staff work closely and collaboratively as a Christian community in the mission of St. Patrick’s as a diocesan Catholic high school. We work together in Faith for the education of our young people, and we seek to put into practice the philosophy of Catholic education as promulgated by the British Columbia Bishops.

The role of the R.E.C. is to act on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (C.I.S.V.A.) in matters for which it has given responsibility to the R.E.C. These areas include budgeting, setting of local school policy, short and long-range planning, hiring of teachers, principal and staff, and general overseeing of the day-to-day operations of the school. Such areas include maintenance, uniforms, general school fundraising, and the parent participation program. Much of the work of the R.E.C. is done behind the scenes, helping to keep the school running smoothly.

In matters of policy and decision-making, the R.E.C. will refer to the Policy Manual of the C.I.S.V.A., and will act in accordance with this manual. The manual is accessible to anyone online at www.cisva.bc.ca. Click on “Policy Manual”.

The R.E.C. conducts monthly meetings, usually on the third Wednesday evening of the month. You are welcome to attend one of our meetings as a visitor/observer. If you have a matter for the R.E.C. to discuss, please contact the Chairperson of the R.E.C. in writing (through the school office) at least seven (7) days ahead of the meeting date, so that the matter can be added to the agenda.

If you have questions about the work of the R.E.C., feel free to leave a message at the school office for the Chairperson, or for the Chair of the sub-committee of interest. You will be contacted as soon as possible.

Thank you for your interest in the R.E.C. Please pray for us as we work in faith for the good of the St. Patrick’s Regional school community.